jonathan butz

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Let’s recap Ford’s repeated attempts to kill their customers:
Pintos that explode and burn you alive
Broncos that roll over
Crown Victorias that explode but don’t necessarily burn you alive
Explorers whose tires explode
Over 16 Million(!) cars of many models with dangerous cruise control systems

The latest addition to the Ford death-trap list was made public in May 2005 after Darletta Mohlis of Iowa burned to death in a fire caused by the defective cruise control switch in her husband’s 1996 F-150. Unlike most automobile fires, this one began in the middle of the night while the car was parked and off, with the key in the house with its occupants.

Since then, Ford has been recalling vehicles slowly in response to three deaths and more than five hundred reported cases of fire and injury, about half of which are for models not yet recalled. Today they announced the recall of 3.8 million vehicles.

Affected vehicles:
Lincoln Mark VII/VIII 1994-1998
Tarus/Sable 1993-1995
Econoline 1992-2003
F-Series 1993-2003
Windstar 1994-2003
Explorer 1994-2003
Expedition/Navigator 1997-2003
Ranger 1995-2003

Ford continues to demonstrate a clear pattern of negligence that is inexplicable and inexcusable. Don’t buy a Ford. Don’t ride in Fords. Don’t let your friends drive Fords. There are plenty of automobile manufactures that are actually interested in their customers’ safety.

Consumer Reports has just released its report on ‘actual’ gas mileage obtained on over 300 vehicles.

Vehicles fall short of the quoted EPA City Mileage by as much as 50%.
Numbers reported by CR are nearly always lower and very distant from EPA figures for City tests, but CR results for Hiway driving are often higher than and much closer to EPA figures.

Apparently, the test for city driving is not nearly as good as that for hiway driving.

As an iPod user, the stories of iPod theft really upset me. It’s one of the most trafficked technology devices because it’s just so compact and useful…and because people who carry them use the white headphones, announcing to all around them that they carry one.

But this story is a happier story. A young man brought an iPod in to a store to purchase cables for it. The store manager recognized his own iPod, stolen from his car one week earlier, and kept the thief occupied until police arrived.

Take the Political Compass test to see how you score. It only uses two dimensions, but it’s a defeinite improvement over left-right.

Me:
Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.46

That’s Gandhi, acording to them. But I’m pretty sure I could kick Gandhi’s ass.

In addition to the standard maps and the satellite photos, Google Maps now has a ‘hybrid’ view that labels the streets in the satellite photos, making Maps.Google the undisputed best map solution ever.

“Many fears are born of stupidity and ignorance — which you should be feeding with rumor and generalization.” -Source unknown

The J.D. Power three year reliability study is complete for models released in 2002. Not surprising, Lexus tops the list for the eleventh consecutive year (which is why I drive one).

Surprises come from Lincoln and Buick earning third and fourth. Mercedes-Benz is frighteningly low. Other surprises come from Volkswagon and Audi waaaaay down on the list. Under no circumstances even consider Mini, Land Rover or Kia.

2005 Report

The 2002 Lexus LS430 gets the best score for any single model ever, only 90 problems per 100 vehicles, the first car ever to score below 100.

This [b]lovely story[/b] comes from India, where an internationally renowned photographer was threatened with a lawsuit by an American company.

Coca-Cola has threatened Sharad Haksar with legal action and demanded an unconditional apology for using a ubiquitous advertisement as a backdrop for a commentary on water shortages in several Indian communities with Coca-Cola bottling plants.

This is the same company whose CMO spoke at my MBA graduation about all the wonderful things it was doing for the third world…like using all their water.

Every generation says, “These kids today…”